Recognizing
Our Need!
"In
this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has
sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live
through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that
He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our
sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one
another!" 1 John 4:9-11.
"In
his sinless state, man held joyful communion with God 'in
whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge' Colossians
2:3. But after his sin, he could no longer find joy in holiness,
and he sought to hide from the presence of God. Such is still
the condition of the unrenewed heart. It is not in harmony
with God, and finds no joy in communion with Him. The sinner
could not be happy in God's presence; he would shrink from
the companionship of holy beings. Could he be permitted to
enter heaven, it would have no joy for him. The spirit of
unselfish love that reigns there - every heart responding
to the heart of Infinite Love - would touch no answering chord
in his soul. His thoughts, his interests, his motives, would
be alien to those that actuate the dwellers there…
"It
is impossible for us, of ourselves, to escape from the pit
of sin in which we are sunken. Our hearts are evil, and we
cannot change them. 'Who can bring a clean thing out of an
unclean? not one' Job 14:4; 'The carnal mind is enmity against
God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be' Romans 8:7. Education, culture, the exercise of the
will, human effort, all have their proper sphere, but here
they are powerless. They may produce an outward correctness
of behavior, but they cannot change the heart; they cannot
purify the springs of life. There must be a power working
from within, a new life from above, before men can be changed
from sin to holiness. That power is Christ. His grace alone
can quicken the lifeless faculties of the soul, and attract
it to God." The Path to Peace, p. 6, 7.
Jesus
said, "Except a man be born from above, he cannot see
the kingdom of God" John 3:3. Unless we receive the new
heart, new desires, purposes, and motives, leading to a new
life from above, that we can only receive from the Holy Spirit
sent from God, we will not be eligible for what God has to
offer. The idea that it is only necessary to develop the good
that exists in man by human nature, is a fatal deception.
"The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit
of God; for they are foolishness to him; neither can he know
them, because they are spiritually discerned" 1 Corinthians
2:14. "Marvel not that I said to you, 'you must be born
again'" John 3:7.
Of Christ
it is written, "Neither is there salvation in any other;
for there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby
we must be saved" Acts 4:12. "It is not enough to
perceive the loving-kindness of God, to see the benevolence,
the fatherly tenderness, of His character. It is not enough
to discern the wisdom and justice of His law, to see that
it is founded upon the eternal principle of love. Paul, the
apostle, saw all this when he exclaimed, 'I consent unto the
law that it is good… The law is holy, and the commandment
holy, and just, and good' but he added, in the bitterness
of his soul-anguish and despair, 'I am carnal, sold under
sin' Romans 7:16, 12, 14. He longed for the purity, the righteousness,
to which in himself he was powerless to attain, and cried
out, 'O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from
this body of death?' Romans 7:24. Such is the cry that has
gone up from burdened hearts in all lands and in all ages.
To all there is but one answer, 'Behold the Lamb of God, who
takes away the sin of the world' John 1:29." Ibid. p.
7.
Many
are the examples in the Bible that illustrate this truth,
and make it plain to individuals that want to be freed from
the burden of guilt. One example is that of Jacob being sent
from his father's home, after his sin of deceiving his father
and brother. He was weighed down with a sense of guilt, lonely,
outcast and separated from all that had made life comfortable
for him. One thought above all others that pressed upon his
soul, was the fear that his sin had cut him off from God,
that he was forsaken of Heaven. In sadness he lay down to
rest on the bare earth, with stones for his pillows. You may
read the story of his flight in Genesis 28:10-22.
Following
the dream of "the angels of God ascending and descending"
upon a ladder setup on the earth and the top of it reaching
to heaven, "behold, the LORD stood above it, and said,
'I am the Lord God of Abraham your father, and the God of
Isaac… and your seed shall be as the dust of the earth,
and you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the
north and the south; and in you and in your seed shall all
the families of the earth be blessed. And behold, I am with
you, and will keep you in all places wherever you go, and
will bring you again into this land, for I will not leave
you until I have done that of which I have spoken to you'"
vs. 13-15.
Jacob
awoke out of his sleep and made a vow saying, "If God
will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and
will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that
I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the
Lord be my God" vs. 20, 21.
"In
the apostasy, man alienated himself from God; earth was cut
off from heaven. Across the gulf that lay between, there could
be no communion. However, through Christ, earth is again linked
with heaven. With His own merits, Christ has bridged the gulf
which sin had made, so that ministering angels can hold communion
with man. Christ connects fallen man in his weakness and helplessness
with the Source of infinite power.
"In
vain are men's dreams of progress, in vain all efforts for
the uplifting of humanity, if they neglect the one Source
of hope and help for the fallen race. 'Every good gift and
every perfect gift' is from God, James 1:17. There is no true
excellence of character apart from Him. And the only way to
God is through Christ. "I am the way, the truth, and
the life; no man comes to the Father, but by Me" John
14:6.
"The
heart of God yearns over His earthly children with a love
stronger than death. In giving up His Son, He has poured out
to us all heaven in one gift. The Savior's life and death
and intercession, the ministry of angels, the pleading of
the Spirit, the Father working above and through all, the
unceasing interest of heavenly beings, - all are enlisted
in behalf of man's redemption…
"On
the other hand, the judgments of God pronounced against sin,
the inevitable retribution, the degradation of our character,
and the final destruction, are presented in God's word to
warn us against the service of Satan.
"Shall
we not regard the mercy of God? What more could He do? Let
us place ourselves in right relation to Him who has loved
us with amazing love. Let us avail ourselves of the means
provided for us that we may be transformed into His likeness,
and be restored to fellowship with the ministering angels,
to harmony and communion with the Father and the Son."
The Path to Peace, p. 8.
"For
all the law is fulfilled even in this, you shall love your
neighbor as you love yourself!... The fruit of the Spirit
is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, meekness, temperance; against such there is no law"
Galatians 5:14, 22, 23. All of this we receive from the Father,
Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. O, what manner of love
the Father has bestowed upon us… 1 John 3:1.
"Beloved,
if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another!"
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